On This Day in History

February 23

Historical Events

1540 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's expedition sets off from Mexico in search of the Seven Cities of Gold (Cibola).

The Fall of the Alamo by Robert Jenkins Onderdonk shows folk hero Davy Crockett shortly before being killed by Mexican soldiers

1836 Alamo besieged for 13 days until March 6 by Mexican army under General Santa Anna; entire garrison eventually killed.

1904 United States acquires control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million.

United States Marines raise the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi, during the Battle of Iwo Jima

1945 US Marines raise the American flag on top of Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Pulitzer Prize winning photo of which by Joe Rosenthall later became iconic, inspiring the Marine Corps War Memorial sculpture.

1954 First mass inoculation against Polio with the Jonas Salk vaccine takes place at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1998 Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and Crusaders.

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Famous Birthdays

Nicolas Fouquet 1615 - 1680 Samuel Pepys 1633 - 1703

George Frideric Handel 1685 - 1759 W.E.B. Du Bois 1868 - 1963

Also

More Famous Birthdays

Famous Deaths

John Quincy Adams 1767 - 1848 Stan Laurel 1890 - 1965

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Remembering The Alamo

A siege by Mexican forces of the Alamo mission compound in Texas began on this day. It lasted 13 days and led to one of the most famous battles in US history.

Siege of the Alamo